Finishing Touches
by Irish Rose1
Summary: There's more to decorating a Christmas tree than ornaments and tinsel. And after their conversations with Oliver, Clark and Lois begin to find out what that really means. Caution: This story has a mature theme. Part 1 of 3.


_'Clark, you just carried her into the phone booth to kiss her senseless. That doesn't sound like someone who knows what he's doing.'_

He couldn't stop thinking about what Oliver had said to him earlier, as he hung another ornament on the tree.

'_Why don't you just marry her already.'_

It sounded so simple coming from someone who was only an observer. But Clark couldn't stop thinking about what it was that Oliver had been observing between him and Lois. Never mind that he was currently observing Lois himself, hanging an ornament of her own and looking more content than he'd ever seen her.

And as he watched, his face flushed as she reached for one of the higher branches to hang another ornament because he was treated to a tempting peak of her bare midriff.

He saw her naked once, but it was so unexpected and they were both so embarrassed that he'd never allowed himself to dwell on it because she'd only been his friend at the time.

'_You're married in everything but name and-'_

They lived together and they worked together. They'd shared a bed together more than once, they did everything together. But they hadn't made love together and he was beginning to wonder if they ever would.

It wasn't because he didn't want to share that joy with her or she with him. The truth was, he wanted her with an urgency that sometimes kept him awake at night, knowing that her soft, warm body was just down the hall. But she wasn't ready and he wasn't sure he was either.

"Smallville, are you going to stand there staring at me or are you going to pass that other box of ornaments." He blinked a couple of times and saw Lois standing next to him with her hands on her hips. "This tree won't finish decorating itself, you know."

And to his complete surprise, she suddenly blushed.

"_Not_ that we have to hurry or anything." Her arms started to flail as she moved away from him and seemed to be inspecting the tree. "There are still a lot of bare spots to take care of, so it looks like we'll have to wait before we can put the star on top of the tree."

"Lois?" Something had suddenly made her nervous, Clark just didn't know what.

"Yep, that's it; no star." She grabbed an ornament and hung it, sidling away from him when he tried to move closer to ask her what was bothering her and she grabbed another ornament to hang. "We're not ready. Putting the star on the tree is a big deal and we're not ready."

"Lois." He frowned in confusion as he watched her move again and pick up a box of tinsel.

She grabbed the long silver strands by the handful and threw them at the tree, getting more agitated and when she'd finished there were clumps and blobs of it in spots all over the branches. She then went back to hanging ornaments, chattering a mile a minute and all Clark could do was stand back and stay out of her way because he didn't know exactly what had set her off.

"I could use a fresh pot of coffee, how about you?" She put the box of tinsel down on the coffee table and made a sudden beeline for the kitchen.

"Honey, you can make the coffee after you tell me what's wrong." He reached out for her hand to stop her.

She glanced quickly to her right, a sure sign that she was nervous about something. "Wrong? What could be wrong? It's only a tree right?" She tugged against his hold as she tried to escape to the kitchen.

"And there's no reason to put the star on top of the tree either, if we're not ready." Lois was babbling again. "Unless, of course you _are_ ready and then that's a different story." She took a breath. "_Are_ you? Ready to put the star on top of the tree, I mean."

It slowly dawned on Clark that what Lois was talking about had absolutely nothing to do with a Christmas tree. "What are you trying to say?"

She tugged again and then rolled her eyes before she looked at him as though he couldn't understand plain English and spoke slowly. "Are you ready to put the star on the tree, with me?"

"It's only a star." _What in the heck was she talking about?_

"Only a star?" She finally managed to yank her hand away. "It's not _just_ a star, Clark. It's bigger than a star, it's huge. It's monumental!"

"Lois, just tell me what you're trying to say." He grasped her shoulders and held her firmly enough to get her to stop squirming and spoke just as slowly. "You're obviously trying to get at something, so why don't you calm down and tell me."

She glanced to her right again before she met his gaze. "Calm down? I _am_ calm, I'm perfectly calm!" She took a deep breath, seeming to realize that she really wasn't and sighed. "If I hadn't balked at Thanksgiving, would we have gone through with it?"

"Well-" He started because his mind was suddenly reeling with the possibility of what she was getting at. "Knowing that Mom was going to be home, I don't know that we would have. Even as much as we might have wanted to."

"I did." She swallowed and his heart started to flutter in his chest and his breathing began to shallow as he started to shake.

"Are you trying to tell me that you're ready?"

"Are _you_?" She flushed a deep red and Clark wouldn't let her look away when he sensed she wanted to and he flashed a nervous smile at her.

"I asked first."

"I think I've been ready since we were in Washington, but it didn't seem right to be together there." She took another deep breath. "I knew when the time came; it had to be here."

The fluttering of his heart intensified as his hands skimmed down her arms and grasped her hands. "Lois if you think you're ready, I'd like to put the star on the tree."

She swallowed and gripped his hands in answer. "It's a pretty serious step."

"I know. But there isn't anyone else that I'd rather take that step with." He nodded, keeping a firm hold on her nervous fingers. He then made the decision to make use of her Christmas tree analogy because he understood fully now what she'd been trying to say. "We've been taking the time to decorate our tree because we wanted everything to be just right.

"And maybe we've been too careful about _how_ we've been decorating because we both know how it feels when the star goes on the top of the tree without the tree being finished." He swallowed against a nervous lump that had formed in his throat. "Honey, as far as I can tell our tree has been decorated for a long time and I think you're right about us being ready since Washington."

"This is a special star that we can only put on the tree once." Her eyes started to tear and he let go of her hands to get his arms around her. "I just want it to be perfect."

"It will be." He whispered in her hair. "Because we both understand that and it's what'll make it so perfect."

"Clark?" Her arms curled around his waist and her cheek rest against his heart, which was beating like crazy.

"What?" He ran a comforting hand down her back because she'd begun to tremble, terribly. It reminded him of the night she'd asked him to kiss her when he'd invited her to the farm for Valentine's Day dinner.

_That_ was a lifetime ago.

She pulled away enough to look into his eyes with a tremulous smile and her face was colored with a blush. "Please stop talking."

"I can do that." His own grin was hesitant as he felt his own face warm.

"Obviously not." She gave him a pointed look.

"Then you'll just have to shut me up, won't you?" He pulled her close and looked at her upturned face. He swallowed again nervously before he closed the distance and gave her a soft kiss.

She wanted it to be perfect and he was going to do everything possible to give her that.

Lois seemed just as hesitant as she pressed her lips against his. It felt as though she was waiting for something as she leaned back and looked into his eyes, so he reached up and ran his fingers across the softness of her cheek searching her eyes, seeking to reassure her. "We'll only go as far as you want to."

"The same goes for you." She pushed herself up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm not expecting anything more than what you're ready to give."

"And seeing how we don't exactly know what that is, it could get interesting." His face began to burn with anticipation and he couldn't stop the smile he felt tipping up the corners of his mouth.

"It could." She smiled back and he pulled her gently against him and kissed her again.

When she kissed him back, he started at the unexpected pair of warm hands that crept under his tee shirt and began to lightly skim his back. The feel of her soft skin against his was all he needed to know that she was fully on board with the direction they were headed and he deepened their kiss.

Clark was so focused on her warm lips and warm body, that it took him a few moments to realize that she'd started to back them up and he had no doubt that she was directing them toward the couch.

_Where else would they go? _

Where else _could_ they go? Only one other place came to mind.

He stopped suddenly as his calves bumped the edge of couch and Lois' arms came from around his waist to gently shove at his chest, pushing him down to a seated position and he looked up at her expectantly. _This _was_ going to get interesting. _

She smiled at him as she leaned forward and put her hands on his shoulders as she straddled him and settled in his lap.

"Lois?" _This was new. _

"Your turn." She dropped a soft kiss on his lips. "What have you got?"

"What do you want?" He asked as he got his hands under her shirt.

"Surprise me." She kissed him again and her face flushed when his body told her what it was that _he_ wanted.

"Under the circumstances, I don't think it's a surprise anymore." He stated the obvious.

"Then you'll just have to think of something else." Lois ran her thumbs along his warm face. "I'm sure you can do that."

"I'm already thinking of something." Clark smiled bashfully as she curled her arms around his neck.

"_That's _obvious."

"Lois." _She always did that to him. _

She laughed softly and gave him a quick kiss. "You're cute when you're flustered."

"Really." He began brushing her soft skin with his fingers and when they began to trail high up her back, she looked pleasantly amazed at his boldness. "Let's see how cute you are when _you_ get flustered."

He kept his gaze locked on hers as he turned and pressed her down into the couch. She blinked a few times as she seemed to be trying to register what it was he was doing and then smiled when he followed and covered her body with his.

"You surprise me, Smallville."

"I thought that's what you wanted." He raised his eyebrows at her, trying not to smile just before he leaned down and kissed her.

He felt her fingers bury themselves in his hair as he moved from her lips, to skim her cheek and nuzzle her ear. He brushed her jaw line, stopped at her chin and kissed it before he grazed her other cheek to give it and her other ear the same attention.

He heard Lois take a sudden, short breath and her leg came up to brush against his before she planted her foot next to him. In the small portion of his brain that was still able to think, he couldn't help but register the fact she'd never done that before and that she also seemed to like was he was doing to her.

Maybe it shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. It also encouraged him, especially when her other leg came up to effectively cradle his body intimately against hers. His warmth against hers, his manhood against her womanhood.

It wasn't as though they hadn't been in their particular position before. But with the decision to finally move their relationship into the intimacy phase, it was something he couldn't fail to notice and take secret pleasure in, because Lois would never let him hear the end of it if he told her.

As he moved in to begin exploring the warm skin under her ear, she decided to take her turn and took his face in her hands, holding him away far enough to look into his eyes. They were the same soft shade of gray they'd been when he had her pinned against the wall of the phone booth earlier that day. He'd taken his opportunity to explore some enticingly warm skin, the fullness of her giving him a glimpse of what was hidden from his view.

Clark hadn't realized his gaze had migrated to the view he'd been thinking about until Lois' hands tipped his face up and she was smiling. "My eyes are up here."

"And they're very pretty Lois." He grinned sheepishly at her, not quite embarrassed that she'd caught him appraising her so openly.

"My lips are right here." She whispered as she brought his lips down to hers and kissed him. But the way she kissed him was different from any other kiss she'd ever given him up to then. Clark didn't know it was possible to feel her heart but it was the only way he could describe it.

The way her lips caressed his, the way her arms found their way around his neck to hold him close and her soft sigh as he skimmed his hands down her sides. The way she reacted as his thumbs brushed the edges of her fullness on the way down to her hips to gather her shapely bottom in his hands.

He couldn't help but smile at the sound of her muffled, _'Oh!', _just before she laughed softly and his smile grew wider. Up until that time he thought he'd known what pleased Lois, but he was learning very quickly that he'd barely scratched the surface and still had so much to discover.

The sudden urge to know more about what _did_ please her made him a little reckless as he pressed himself into her, telegraphing his desire in no uncertain terms and she gasped her surprise at what he was doing to her just before she answered his blatant action which elicited a groan from him.

She picked up her legs to wrap them around his hips, holding him close to her and Clark thought that she was trying to slow things down until she arched into him again and he knew what she wanted.

"Please." She whispered quietly in his ear. "Please."

The simple request got him to open his eyes and when he looked at the face of the woman he loved, her cheeks were flushed and tears rolled out of the corners of her eyes. He let go of her so he could reach up with his thumbs to gently wipe them away and he swallowed hard.

"I don't want to wait any more." Her voice was soft as she leaned up and kissed him.

"Lois." His heart hammered against his chest as she stopped him with another kiss. "Are you sure?"

She answered him with a nod as she tugged on the bottom of his tee shirt and pulled.

"There's no going back." Clark whispered as he reached for one of her hands to stop her, suddenly realizing that _talking_ about what they were about to do and actually _doing_ it were two completely different things. "You know that."

"I'm ready, and I know _you're_ ready." Her breathing started to shallow as she pulled that hand out of his gentle grip. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have done the things you did to me in that phone booth."

"I wanted you so much." His own breathing was becoming increasingly short as he brushed a kiss across her lips. "I've never felt it that strongly before."

"I have." She answered him. "Enough for the both of us."

"Show me." He brushed another kiss against her sweet, soft mouth and then smiled. "Please?"

"Think you can handle it?" Lois lifted a suggestive eyebrow at him and gave him the sultriest smile he'd ever seen.

"There's only one way to find out." He grinned back at her and her flushed face reddened even more. "So how about it Lane? Don't tell me you're all talk."

And as though to prove to him that she wasn't, she put her warm hands on each side of his own flushed face to pull him down into a damp, passionate kiss that left no doubt in _his_ mind.

He reached down for the hem of her shirt and lifted himself to pull it up. She unwittingly assisted him as she arched her back when he deepened their kiss, teasing her tongue with his own and withdrawing it before she could answer and take control of the situation.

Because he knew that given the opportunity, she would.

She let go of his face and stretched her arms behind her as he kept pulling and taking his lips from hers just long enough to finish the job. He tossed the shirt away and didn't know where it landed. But to be perfectly honest, he didn't really care.

Clark took that moment to appreciate Lois' trim waist, her flat, toned abdomen and the black bra she wore as his hands slowly skimmed up her arms and then laced his fingers through hers. He watched the flutter of her rapid heartbeat knowing he was the one responsible for it and he leaned down to brush his lips against the palpitations.

"What are you doing?" Came the breathless question and when he continued to caress her skin, she shivered.

"I'd think that would be pretty obvious Lois." His throaty laugh surprised even himself as he reacted to her faint, _'Oh, god' _as his lips moved down to the edge of her bra. And as they gently nudged past the lace barrier, discovering more warm skin and inching toward his ultimate goal, her head dropped back onto the couch cushions.

He took that as her consent to continue and let go of one of her hands so he could pull down a cup to uncover a full breast that rose and fell with enticing quickness with her shallow breaths, completely mesmerizing him.

Never in a million years would Clark have ever believed that what he was doing with Lois, _to_ Lois could feel so perfect or that she would be so perfect. He wasn't thinking about anything except pleasing her and from the soft sounds that she was making, he knew he was succeeding.

They weren't even close to where he wanted them to be when he brushed the fullness with trembling fingers and then closed his mouth over her. She jerked at the initial intimate contact before she relaxed and leaned into him, her free hand threading into his hair to hold him close.

He felt her trying to unlace her fingers from his other hand as he gently suckled the pebbled skin and he looked up in dazed curiosity when he felt a tug on his hair.

"You still have your shirt on." Her look was one of undisguised want and when she kissed him, his stomach clenched with an aching want of his own. "I think we need to level the playing field."

He nodded in answer and let go of her hand, wanting nothing more then to feel them on him, _any_where on him. He felt her pulling up on his shirt and shifted so that she could take it off, tossing it behind her and sailing it toward the kitchen.

"Look at you." Her eyes drifted across his bare chest and down toward the waistband of his jeans as her hands came to rest on his shoulders.

"Lois?" He swallowed, his confidence wavering because he was unsure if she liked what she saw.

"You've changed Smallville." She commented quietly.

"Changed?" _What was she talking about?_

"You're definitely not the same guy I found naked in the cornfield." She smiled and caught his eye. "You look _very_ different."

"So do you." Clark smiled back at her, his confidence returning as he glanced down again at the breast he'd exposed before he slipped an arm underneath her; his breath catching at the feel of so much of her bare skin against his hands and his chest; and his mouth.

It was so much more intoxicating and arousing than he'd ever imagined it could be when he reached for the other cup and pulled it down to reveal her other breast. He suckled it gently, but with more force than the first as the fullness rose and fell in his mouth and when he slowly began to run his tongue over the firm rosy peak, she fisted his hair with a whispered, _'Oh my god.' _

And he smiled again.

Her hands were shaking as they wedged their way between their bodies, which effectively disengaged his mouth from her warm flesh and her neatly clipped nails skimmed slowly down his chest. The gentle friction left prickly goose bumps in their wake and he knew he was in real danger of taking her right there on the couch because his body was telling him to with more urgency than he'd ever felt before.

But he'd promised her that their first time would be as memorable and romantic as he could make it, and it would be in his bed. Making love with her on the couch might have been more convenient, but it wasn't where he wanted them to be, even if it was in front of the fire and their mostly decorated tree.

"Clark?" _Was she purring?_

"Yeah?" His hands worked their way up her back to release the catch of her bra because it was in his way and he wasn't finished just yet. Lois' smile grew brighter as she brushed his lips tenderly and let go of him long enough to work her arms out of the lacy material.

"Let's burn the house down." She requested and he watched the rise and fall of her generous flesh as she flung it, too, toward the kitchen.

"After I take you upstairs." He laughed softly at her frown of protest and kissed her pouting lips. "I'll make it worth the wait, I promise."

"Sweet talker." She kissed him back as her fingers found their way back to his chest and traveled down to the button of his jeans where he stopped her with a tremulous hand.

"Upstairs." He shook his head and then struggled to sit up as he brought Lois with him. He was enjoying the feel of so much of her warm skin against his that he didn't want to let her go. "I want to do this right."

"All right then Smallville." She seemed to having trouble focusing on his face as she got her arms around his neck and toyed with the ends of his hair. He got one foot down on the floor and boosted himself up with his other knee; still never letting go. "As long as we get to do it, I don't care where we are."

"Sweet talker." He tossed back at her gently and she pressed her chest into his, caressing him lightly; the unfamiliar feel of it caused his face to burn.

He could have easily used his super speed to get them up to his room, but what was happening was something that he didn't want to rush; he wanted to remember every detail. Every touch, every kiss, every whisper and how it would feel to finally make love with her to complete and utter, exhilarating exhaustion.

He wasn't exactly sure how he managed to get his other foot on the floor, but Clark found himself standing next to the couch with Lois in his arms and her legs wound tight around his waist. She brushed his chest with hers again and kissed him.

"Lois." He closed his eyes in frustration and heard her soft laugh.

"A girl can only wait so long, you know." She whispered suggestively in his ear. "So let's get moving Clarkie."

_Clarkie? _He couldn't remember the last time she'd called him that.

"You have someplace you need to be?" He kissed her as he carried her out of the living room and toward the stairs.

"Yeah." She kissed him back. "Your bed."

"We'll get there." He kissed her again. "You are so impatient."

"And you're not?" Lois' face flushed as he climbed the stairs and felt the acceleration of her heart against his chest.

"Not as impatient as you." He told her as he kept moving up the stairs. In spite of his words, though, he _was_ just as impatient as his girlfriend was. But he was determined to maintain control of their situation for as long as possible. "Honey, we have all night so let's just take this slow."

"I don't know the meaning of the word." An eyebrow went up; promising him that it would be anything but that.

_We'll see._

**~*~**

She never imagined that such big, strong hands could be so gentle and yet make her so completely crazy.

Clark had insisted on being such a slow poke in getting her upstairs that Lois wondered if he really was trying to drive her insane.

He'd already begun to do that downstairs when his soft, warm mouth caressed each of her breasts, sending a surge of aching want southward in a hurry. Her stomach had clenched into a painfully erotic knot when she felt the roughness of his tongue glide over a sensitive peak, making it even more sensitive and her body had gone completely limp.

It was the fulfillment of what he'd begun earlier in the phone booth of the _Daily Planet _when he'd unbuttoned her blouse just enough to give him a teasing hint of her fullness. He'd pinned her against the wall impressing on her what his body really wanted, but all he did was kiss the tops of her breasts, repeatedly and heatedly as his hands rest against the wall on either side of her head.

He created such an ache in her that couldn't be satisfied for either of them, so he'd reluctantly stepped away. The look in his eyes told her that it was the last thing he wanted to do, but if their first time wasn't going to be in an elevator, it wasn't going to be in a phone booth either.

She'd left in a hurry after that because she didn't trust herself not to drag him back into that same phone booth so his body could ease the terrible ache in hers that had left her so frustrated.

Lois couldn't ever remember wanting someone so much, like she wanted Clark. And it wasn't about the physical pleasure being with him would bring, well actually it was, but it was the pleasure of finally being able to show him with her body how much she really loved him.

And now they were so close to connecting in a way that had kept her awake at night, knowing that his well-built, warm body was just down the hall from her in the very bed where he currently had her pinned down.

His mouth was dropping soft kisses on hers, which she answered just as softly as she lightly skimmed his arms with her fingers and their tongues teased each other as one of his hands trailed up her abdomen. The whisper touches of his warmth against her skin made her shiver and her stomach started to flutter furiously when he brushed the underside of one of her breasts.

That same hand then slowly moved up to the firm peak of her fullness and his palm brushed her lightly until she arched into it and when she gasped in pleasure at the sensations he was creating in her, he brushed it again.

_He really _was_ trying to drive her insane. _

He slipped his fingers in between her breasts, caressing her with feather strokes and then moved to the other, repeating the process, which caused her to arch into him again, her heart hammering against his palm.

"Clark!" She could only manage a husky whisper that sounded so strange to her ears. "_Do_ something!"

"Like what?" He smiled innocently at her as though he didn't realize what his touch was doing to her.

"Well you started this, figure it out!" She growled at him and should have known he would continue what he'd started in the living room when he brought his mouth down to the breast he'd just been skimming with his hand and kissed it. _Who was she kidding?_ He wasn't just kissing it; he was suckling it and teasing the hard point with his tongue, again.

_Where in the hell had he learned to do that? _

"Smallville?" The shivering had graduated into shaking; and she _was_ shaking, terribly.

"Mm-hmm?" The vibration of his voice rumbled against her breast as he continued to kiss her.

_He's not kissing you Lois; he's worshipping you._

"For someone who doesn't have a lot of experience at this, you sure seem to know what you're doing."

When he looked up at her, his face was flushed as red as she'd ever seen it and his blue eyes fairly twinkled at her as he smiled. "That's because I'm _listening_ to you Lois. I listen to how your heartbeat gets faster and your breathing gets shallow when I do certain things. And you seem to like it when I touch you like this." He ran his palm over her damp nipple with just enough pressure that the friction of it made her catch her breath. "See?"

"I hate you." She frowned at him in frustration.

"No you don't." He laughed softly. "I'm doing this because I want to show you how much I love you and how much I love that you're here with me, loving _me_."

"What we're doing isn't exactly what I had in mind." She started to fold her arms across her bare chest in a fit of pique but Clark stopped her with a shake of his head and they went down on the bed.

"We haven't finished decorating the tree yet." He dropped a soft kiss on her lips.

"I thought you said that our tree was decorated a long time ago." She frowned again.

"We forgot the tinsel?" He shrugged and Lois couldn't help herself and she laughed.

"So that's what we're doing now?"

He nodded. "And as far as _I_ can tell, we still have a ways to go."

"And you'll let me know when we get there?" She reached up to brush the hair back from his forehead.

"Oh honey, I think we'll both know when we do." He kissed her shoulder and then her breast. And this time, she cradled the back of his head with a gentle hand to keep his mouth where it was, right over her heart.

She wasn't sure why, but the feel of his soft lips and his gentle hand on her lulled Lois into such a state of relaxation that her eyes drifted closed, concentrating on the pleasurable sensations he was creating in her. And in her state of pure bliss, because that's what it was, her hearing picked up a sound and she opened her eyes.

"Clark?" Lois thought she heard something on the front porch and she pushed at his shoulders.

"Hmm?" He was too busy moving his warm mouth to her other breast to hear her panic.

"I think someone's downstairs." She felt her heart begin to race and it wasn't because Clark's fingers had begun to brush against her skin again and started to travel south toward the waistband of her jeans, making her insides melt and her body want him so much.

_Concentrate, Lois._

"Clark!" She tried to catch her breath as she grasped his face in her hands to get his attention. "You need to get downstairs. Now."

"Why?" His bemused and frustrated look nearly derailed her panicked thoughts, but then she heard the front door open.

"When is your mother coming home?"

"Mom?" He was trying so hard to form a coherent thought when all he kept doing was looking as her chest. And then she saw the idea finally congeal in his mind and he looked just as frantic as she felt. "I'll be right back."

In a rush of wind, he was out of the room and a half-second later; her shirt and bra were on the bed.

_How in the hell were they going to explain this?_

A half-second after that, he was back in the room, his shirt on and there was a soft smile on his face. A single tear rolled out of the corner of his eye and he kissed her, almost reverently. "I love you."

And he was gone.

"Hi Mom." She heard the happiness in his voice and knew that his mother being home was just part of the reason why.

"Hi honey, where's Lois?" Came the inevitable question and Lois' face burned as she picked up her bra and slipped the straps onto her shoulders. She reached behind to fasten the hooks and took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"Upstairs." Was his answer as she picked up her shirt. "I'll go up and let her know you're home."

"If she's working you don't need to disturb her."

"If I don't tell her you're here, she'll let me have it." He laughed as she put her arms through the sleeves of her shirt and pulled it over her head. "So let me take those for you and after I put them in your room, I'll bring her down."

She sat on the edge of his bed and waited for him. Lois was shaking, not only from nerves, but from the thwarted promise of knowing how it would feel to make love with him to complete and orgasmic fulfillment.

_That_ was going to have to wait.

"And I thought _I_ was the one with super hearing." Clark's voice was soft as he stood in the doorway of his bedroom. "Mom decided to surprise us by coming home early."

"Well we would have given _her_ an unexpected welcome home present if she'd found us in here." Lois rolled her eyes.

He walked into the room and sat down next to her, taking her hand.

"I guess it's a good thing that you were preoccupied with, other things." She sighed and glanced down at her chest self-consciously. "If we'd been naked in your bed, I don't know _what_ we could've done."

"You don't?" She looked up at him and he was laughing, his face flushed. "Usually when two people are naked together, it leads to something pretty wonderful."

"That's _not_ what I meant." She drew back and then punched him, but he kept laughing. "If your mother had caught us, I'd never be able to look her in the face again."

"But she didn't, and she won't." He squeezed her hand. "If we'd known she was coming home tonight, we never would have let it go as far as we did. Even after what you did to me this afternoon."

"What _I_ did to _you_?" She looked at him incredulously and he gave her a dopey smile. "You were the one who nearly christened that phone booth with me."

"I'd rather christen my bed with you," He kissed her cheek before he stood up and tugged her up next to him. "Once Mom goes back."

"Then what happens when she comes home for good?" It had never occurred to Lois until that moment what Mrs. Kent's coming back to Smallville would do to their future intimacy.

"I don't know. There wasn't any reason to think about it until tonight." It was his turn to frown as he shrugged. "I don't want to sneak around and feel like we can't be together here. But I don't want Mom feeling uncomfortable either."

A thought came to Lois that she knew Clark wouldn't like, but decided to throw it out for consideration. "I _could _always move back to the _Talon_."

"You said that Jimmy's there a lot with Chloe. That really isn't going to help us." He sighed.

"The loft?" She looked at him questioningly. "We'd have privacy and we wouldn't have to go very far."

"It can get pretty cold out there." His answering look was dubious.

"We _would_ have plenty of heat." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "You kept _me_ awfully warm tonight."

"That isn't exactly _how_ I wanted to keep you warm Lois." Clark smiled at her. "But I won't complain because I got to see how beautiful you are. And if Mom wasn't downstairs, I'd like to see it again."

The thought of his hands and his mouth on her body again, caused her eyes to close in frustration. But when she opened them, she smiled at him. "When you go out to close up the barn for the night let me know."

His eyebrows went up in surprise. "Really?"

"If we're going to pick up where we left off, I'd rather it be where we won't embarrass your mother." She nodded. "And if your kissing me leads to other things, I won't mind."

"You're serious about this."

Lois put her arms around his neck and brought her body flush against his. "Do you want me Smallville, or don't you?" And she felt his arms close around her waist.

"You really have to ask?" He rolled his eyes and tried to look exasperated.

"Then kiss me like you mean it before we have to go downstairs and I have to face your mother." She tipped her face up and he smiled at her before he brought his lips to hers and kissed her.

"I _do_ love you Lois." He brushed another kiss in her hair as he held her.

"I love you too Clark." She leaned away and kissed his cheek. "Now let's get moving before she starts to wonder what's taking us so long."

He nodded his agreement and smiled as he took her hand, leading her out of his room. As they walked down the stairs and Lois saw Mrs. Kent standing next to the Christmas tree, Clark gripped her hand in his as hers started to shake.

How could Lois behave as though Martha Kent's only son hadn't been having his way with her, in his mother's house only minutes before?

"Hi honey." She smiled at Lois and then inclined her head toward the tree. "You've been decorating."

"We're still working on it." Clark gave her a quick look and squeezed her hand, that soft smile on his face again. "But we'll get it finished."

"Well, I'll leave it to you then." She glanced at the tree again and laughed. "I'm guessing that Lois put the tinsel on the tree."

"I'll fix it." She promised.

"Take your time Lois. Some trees just take longer to decorate than others." Lois' face warmed because she suddenly got the uneasy feeling that Clark's mother was fully aware of what they'd been doing as she walked toward the kitchen. "But in the meantime, why don't you kids follow me and fill me in on what you've up to."

She and Clark glanced at each other and she wanted to smack the flush that had crept across his cheeks off of his face as he smiled at her. "Just trying to finish with the tree."

That earned him a glare and he laughed softly as they followed his mother into the kitchen and sat down at the island, at her insistence. "It's so nice to be able to make a pot of coffee in my own kitchen."

"That's a pretty nice kitchen you have in Washington, Mrs. Kent." Lois smiled at her.

"And if Lois could cook, she might be able to make good use of it." Clark grinned at her as he initiated their bantering.

"It could still happen." She shot back, understanding what it was he was doing. Mainly, distracting his mother. "You never know."

"Lois, we'll be married before that happens." He mentioned in an off hand way with a laugh and then looked absolutely stunned at his own words.

Mrs. Kent's eyebrows shot up in surprise while Lois felt her face burn with a blush and her heart hitched in her chest. "You care to explain that Smallville?"

"I, uh-" He gave her a nervous look and his eyes flickered up to meet his mother's. "I need to close up the barn." And in a rush of wind through the kitchen door, he was gone.

She stared at the fluttering curtains that covered the glass pane of the closed door and the hitch in her heart eased enough only to start palpitating furiously. "Did he just-"

"I don't know honey, what do _you_ think?" Mrs. Kent's soft voice got Lois to look at her and she was smiling.

"Well, I would have expected it to be a _little_ more romantic." Her eyes skittered back down to concentrate on her folded hands, resting on the island.

"Is a proposal something you'd like?" A gentle hand came down to cover hers. "Is it something you'd consider?"

'_So you don't think that someone's too young to decorate a tree with another someone?'_

"What's there to consider? He didn't ask." Lois sighed and was surprised to find that the idea disappointed her. "He seems perfectly happy with the way things are."

'_Not if they enjoy decorating with that someone and want to spend the rest of their Christmases only decorating with them.'_

But Clark had never given her any indication that he wanted to spend the rest of his Christmases decorating only with her. _Or had he?_

Was what happened between them earlier a hint at what he was thinking? Lois knew how seriously he took their relationship and wouldn't have initiated any intimacy unless his heart was considering something permanent.

'_So you think that spending the rest of my Christmases decorating a tree with Clark will make me happy?' _

'_I don't think you'll be happy with anyone else.'_

"Lois, what's going on?" Mrs. Kent's soft voice broke into her thoughts.

'_You bring out a side of him that brings out the best in him and he brings out a side of you that brings out the best in you too.'_

"Do you think I'm good for Clark?" _Was Ollie right?_

She sat down across from Lois, never letting go of her hands. "I think you're the best thing to ever happen to him, I've _always_ thought that." She smiled. "With you, Clark can be himself and you're the only girl he's ever had that freedom with."

"That doesn't make sense." Lois shook her head. "How could he be himself when I didn't know his secret?"

"It didn't matter. When he was with you, it wasn't something he thought about because of the kind of friendship you had." She shrugged. "With Chloe and with Lana, before they knew, he was so conscious about them not knowing it made him feel different. And it seemed that even _after_ they knew, he felt it even more."

"So even though he told _me_, it doesn't change how I make him feel?" _It still didn't make sense. _

"No." She shook her head. "And that's because you don't treat him any differently then you did before. It wasn't the case with the girls."

"But why _would_ I treat him any differently? He's still Smallville."

"And that's why he loves you so much." She laughed. "Because no matter what, that's how you see him."

"How do you think he sees _me_?" She didn't like sounding so insecure because there wasn't any reason for it. Mrs. Kent seemed to sense that when she squeezed her trembling hands.

"_I_ think he sees you as the love of his life."

_So if Clark was her Jonathan, then that made her his Martha? _Pfft, not likely.

"I know that look." Mrs. Kent sounded amused. "What's going through that head of yours?"

"Mr. Kent was the love of _your_ life, wasn't he?" She tried to sound casual about it, but Lois knew she hadn't fooled Clark's mother.

"Does this have anything to do with my telling you that you'd found your Jonathan?" She asked.

"What makes you say that?" _Crap! _

"Lois." She shook her head with a frown. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" _Double crap!_

"Lois Joanne, you know exactly what I mean." Mrs. Kent saw right through her. "Maybe you're thinking that if Clark is your Jonathan, that you're his Martha?"

"Oh, please." It was Lois' turn to frown. "I'm hardly you; I can't even cook."

"And Jonathan wasn't born on another planet, but we loved each other anyway." She laughed. "Honey, my point in telling you that in the first place wasn't to make you and Clark a carbon copy of Jonathan and me.

"My point was to illustrate how two people who think they're so different can actually be a perfect match, like you and my son."

"You really think we are?" _The General would call this weakness, Lo. _

"You already know what _I_ think." She smiled indulgently. "What's important is what _you_ think. And I think you already know but you're too afraid to admit it."

"There's no such thing as perfect."

"True." Mrs. Kent nodded. "Heaven knows that things weren't always perfect with Jonathan and me, no marriage or relationship ever is. And I'm sure that things aren't always perfect with you and Clark. But you're together and you'll stay together because the love you've found only comes around once in a lifetime. And deep down, I believe you know that.

"Now why don't you go out to the barn and tell my son it's time to come in." She stood up and turned toward the coffeepot and Lois heard her chuckle. "I think he's been hiding out there long enough."

"Mrs. Kent." Lois tried not to laugh.

"Lois, don't you think it's time to start calling me Martha?" She turned back around. "Sooner or later, we _are_ going to be related and don't try to tell me that we aren't."

She seemed to rightly sense that Lois was about to object, but never gave her the chance.

"Go on now." And she turned her back as she carried the coffeepot to the sink and turned on the water, effectively ending any conversation. So Lois walked to the front door and grabbed her jacket before she opened the door to step outside.

She pushed her arms through the sleeves and zipped up the front before she shoved her hands into the pockets. She stepped off the porch to walk toward the barn and as she expected them to be, the doors to the barn were closed against the winter cold. Lois took as deep a breath as the cold air would allow to try and calm her nerves before she opened the access door and walked inside.

"Clark, your mother says that it's time to come back to the house and stop hiding." Lois rolled her eyes and then heard a soft laugh coming from his loft.

"Come on up." She heard and hesitated. He seemed to sense it because he laughed again. "Come on up. I don't know about you, but _I_ don't want our first time to be in the barn."

"If we ever _hav_e a first time." She muttered to herself, forgetting that he could hear her.

"After tonight, it's only a matter of time." Clark was smiling at her as she got to the top of the stairs. He was sitting on the arm of the old couch, his hands resting on his thighs. He looked more content then she'd ever seen and couldn't help but wonder about something.

"Smallville, did you propose?"

"If I were going to propose, you wouldn't have to wonder." He stood up and Lois felt her face flush because at his full height, he somehow seemed taller. "And besides, that isn't the way I'd want to do it."

"And how _would_ you, _if_ you were going to propose?" Her heart fluttered nervously.

"The bigger question is, would you accept?" His contentment seemed to ebb as he started to look as nervous as she felt.

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" _Steady Lois. _

"We've never really talked about that, have we?" He took a deep breath. "We've been so focused on the other part of our relationship that we never stopped to think about making it permanent."

"Does that mean you're thinking about it?" She stepped closer and he reached for her hands.

"When it comes to you, and us-" He smiled. "I think about a lot of things. And marriage _has_ crossed my mind."

"How seriously?" She looked into his eyes, trying to read his thoughts.

"Not _too_ seriously because I didn't want to ask if you weren't ready." He seemed to hesitate telling her that, almost as though not to hurt her.

"So we're ready for sex, but not for marriage?" The idea irritated her even though she knew it wasn't what he said, but he seemed to understand.

"The way I see it, we've waited all this time because we wanted the time to be right." He sighed and gripped her hands. "I don't take lightly what happened tonight and I know you don't either. I also don't take a marriage proposal to you lightly either and I wouldn't ever want you to think that I did it for the wrong reasons."

"Because you did before."

He had the grace to blush in embarrassment as he nodded. "I proposed to her out of desperation because I knew our relationship was in trouble. I don't ever want to feel that way about you."

_They were actually talking about it. _They were discussing the very real possibility of a marriage proposal and Lois' head spun. "The chicken or the egg."

"What?" His look was confused.

"You know, that age-old argument about what came first." It was her turn to sigh. "Sex or a proposal?"

"Are you saying you want to wait until I propose?"

"Are you going to propose if we have sex?"

"No!" "Yes!" They answered each other and suddenly Lois didn't know what to say.

"Then you _will_ do the noble thing." She pulled her hands out of his and turned away from him. "You'll do the honorable thing and propose."

"I didn't mean it that way and you know that." He got her by her shoulders and turned her around. "When I propose, it's not going to be because we slept together. When I propose, it's going to be because I don't want to spend another day without you and because I want to grow old with you." Then his face flushed. "And because I want to have kids with you."

"That's all I'd need, a little Smallville running around." And she felt her own face warm at the idea.

"Or a mini Lois." He shrugged. "And I imagine that we'll get paid back for all of _our_ bickering when we hear our kids doing the same thing."

_Did he hear him_self_? _Because _she_ sure as hell did. "Clark?"

He nodded and then started to laugh. "We're talking about kids."

"If you _were_ to propose, I think I'd be ready for that. But I don't think I'm ready for kids yet." It felt odd telling him that, but if she _was_ going to mention it now was the time.

"We'll have kids when you're ready and not a day sooner, okay?" He caught her eye. "Besides, we've got plenty of time for that."

"Thank you." She pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him. "Now let's get moving. I won't be responsible for you disobeying a direct order from your mother."

"Better her than you." He laughed as he took her hand and walked her down the stairs.

"Stow it Smallville." She followed him and then he stopped them on the landing.

"Make me." He challenged her with a smile.

"No dice." She shook her head and put her arms around his neck. "But I wouldn't object to the 8:15 Clark Kent Express back to the house."

He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I think it's going to be a little late."

"And why is that?" Lois asked him, knowing what he was thinking.

"Let me show you." And he kissed her.


End file.
